Macaron fillings, what we like and don't like.

We all know that Macarons are sweet, too sweet sometimes, what I don't understand is why do they put a sweet filling into what's already a really sweet cookie! I even did the white chocolate ganache with added salt as it's a common filling, but argh it was just really really sweet.

Perhaps I say this because I don't have a sweet tooth, but I would much prefer a tangy or not sweet filling. So after testing out a few fillings, I finally realised which one my family prefers. 

Cream cheese it turns out is one of the best filling and is the most preferred by my darling daughter. It makes you feel like you're eating a mini cheesecake as the cookie is just like the cheesecake crumb base! I use it straight from the tub, no sugar added, so it's not a cream cheese frosting, just cream cheese straight up! 80% less fat baby!

Lemon Meringue marshmallows. This I discovered at a recent trip to the supermarket, it's so tangy and lemony, works great with the sweet macarons, just like you're eating a lemon meringue pie! I microwaved a few marshmallows to make it spreadable and voila, instant filling! And marshmallows are also Fat Free!

This is the white chocolate ganache (tinted pink).....one bite and I felt like my teeth were gonna fall off...

On a side note, how cute is this? I had some cupcake containers left over and realised I could pack macarons in this to give to friends! One container can fit 3 macarons, just nice. 

As important as the filling is, the macaron recipe is just as important. I tried this recipe: 

Though this recipe is super easy and gave perfect macarons, see here, it was just TOO sweet. I couldn't taste the almonds, so it just tasted like a sweet meringue, rather than a cookie. But I was really thrilled that these gave really great feet.

I found that the recipe from Bravetart is so far the best tasting and this will be my go to recipe from now on. The 'feet' weren't as big as the one from above, but oh well, maybe it'll get better with more experimentation. You can find her recipe here: http://bravetart.com/recipes/Macarons